The Mediterranean diet is often praised for its huge benefits pertaining to one’s health. Recently, a new study has put forward the idea that the diet can lower the risk of women to develop womb cancer by 57 %. The findings are published in the British Journal of Cancer.

The diets of more than 5,000 Italian women were studied to determine to what extent do they adhere to a Mediterranean diet, and whether they develop womb cancer over the course of time. The famous diet includes the consumption of lots of vegetables, fruits, fish, pulses, cereals, nuts, monounsaturated fats, potatoes, with only little meat, milk and dairy products and moderate alcohol intake.

The results showed that those who stuck to the diet to the greatest extent by consuming from 7 to 9 of the food groups had a 57 % less risk of developing womb cancer.

Women consuming 6 of the components had a 46 % less chance, while participants having 5 of the food groups had a 34 % lowered risk.

As for participants who consumed fewer than 5 of the desired food items, the results showed no significant decrease in their risk for them developing womb cancer.

“Our research shows the impact a healthy balanced diet could have on a woman’s risk of developing womb cancer. This adds more weight to our understanding of how our every day choices, like what we eat and how active we are, affect our risk of cancer,” said the lead author, Dr Cristina Bosetti.

Dr Julie Sharp, Cancer Research UK’s head of health information, said: “While we know that getting older and being overweight both increase a woman’s risk of womb cancer, the idea that a Mediterranean diet could help reduce the risk needs more research. This is partly because this study was based on people remembering what they had eaten in the past.

“Cancer risk is affected by our age and our genes but a healthy lifestyle can also play a part in reducing the risk of some cancers. Not smoking, keeping a healthy weight, being active, eating healthily and cutting down on alcohol helps to stack the odds in your favour.”